We present the discovery of a very faint stellar system , SMASH 1 , that is potentially a satellite of the Large Magellanic Cloud .
Found within the Survey of the Ma gellanic Stellar History ( SMASH ) , SMASH 1 is a compact ( r _ { h } = 9.1 ^ { +5.9 } _ { -3.4 } { pc } ) and very low luminosity ( M _ { V } = -1.0 \pm 0.9 , L _ { V } = 10 ^ { 2.3 \pm 0.4 } { L _ { \odot } } ) stellar system that is revealed by its sparsely populated main sequence and a handful of red-giant-branch candidate member stars .
The photometric properties of these stars are compatible with a metal-poor ( { [ Fe / H ] } = -2.2 ) and old ( 13 Gyr ) isochrone located at a distance modulus of \sim 18.8 , i.e .
a distance of \sim 57 { kpc } .
Situated at 11.3 ^ { \circ } from the LMC in projection , its 3-dimensional distance from the Cloud is \sim 13 { kpc } , consistent with a connection to the LMC , whose tidal radius is at least 16 { kpc } .
Although the nature of SMASH 1 remains uncertain , its compactness favors it being a stellar cluster and hence dark-matter free .
If this is the case , its dynamical tidal radius is only \mathrel { \hbox to 0.0 pt { \lower 3.0 pt \hbox { $ \mathchar 536 $ } \hss } \raise 2.0 pt% \hbox { $ \mathchar 316 $ } } 19 { pc } at this distance from the LMC , and smaller than the system ’ s extent on the sky .
Its low luminosity and apparent high ellipticity ( \epsilon = 0.62 ^ { +0.17 } _ { -0.21 } ) with its major axis pointing toward the LMC may well be the tell-tale sign of its imminent tidal demise .